Love of lathes.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks refugee. I too either fix or destroy appliances when they fail. Cheapest Beko washing machine at under £200 and when it starts to misbehave it gets broken for parts and a new one bought; this applies to most items. A few years ago during the worst winter ever recorded our central heating boiler failed; it was leaking water from the pump so after two icy trips to our local stockist I finally had the correct pump which was an easy installation. Then the fun started because the boiler popped one water leak after another and in the end I simply couldn't keep up with the leaks; I didn't have the correct boiler pliers and all my spanners were much to bulky to get into the tight pipe arrangement. I called British Gas and arranged a fixed price repair; British Gas had a right old time spending three days with us until the boiler was finally sorted out; British Gas were brilliant so now I trust them and have a repair contract for our central heating with them which is costly at £280 per year but this also includes an annual service and peace of mind should this boiler fail again. I hate plumbing jobs anyway and they always crop up at the most inconvenient time. I'll never play around with gas and will never encourage anyone else to play with gas either.

Regarding the "Colourtune" I actually met the guy who invented this when he spent a day at Brook Motor's giving a lecture so being me I had a good natter with him; a decent guy who knew his subject.

Bron and I have had one successful (?) claim on household insurance Gary all the time we had a mortgage. One day Bron poured some hot water into our kitchen sink and it went off like an explosion scaring Bron and leaving an hairline crack across the sink so of course the insurance will quickly sort this small job out. It cost more in phone calls and we were without sink for days until the insurance finally paid up something like £120; nothing but hassle for a pittance.

I do all our electrical work Gary which I quite enjoy taking my time to do a decent job. This is just as well considering the many changes I make over the years to the circuits especially in the garage; I think my home made 3 phase would baffle a number of electricians? I wonder how this 3 phase would stand up to an inspection if I decided to leave it installed if we decided to sell our bungalow; I'm sure it would generate interest?

I do take very seriously Gary your previous comments regarding storage of dangerous materials at home such as big cans of thinner and paint etc.I intend to do something about these materials I have in the garage because I can quite easily design and make a steel enclosure to house them safely (explosion proof enclosure). I could locate this below the bungalow giving good access but moving all these materials away from ignition sources such as angle grinding and welding. The explosion proof enclosures I saw at Brook's were nothing special just being a large steel container with an access door. The metal doesn't need to be bomb proof because all it does I believe is to exclude air preventing combustion so if I make it well sealed it would be fit for purpose. 1/8" thick sheet steel either welded or assembled using angle iron would do the job. I can measure all my containers then make the enclosure plenty big enough.It will make a nice and worthwhile project.

I'll wander into the garage today to resume work on this Lorch. First job will be to store all the thinners etc under the bungalow out of harms way.

Kind regards, Col.

[AlanBeckett]

You wouldn't be making an Explosion Proof Enclosure Col by any definition of the word, and neither was the Brook's one.
The real objective is to stop people buggering about with what's in there.
Putting it outside isn't necesarily a good idea either as internally it can get very hot if it's in the Sun. Having said that 'Outside' has the edvantage that the 'Bang' can dissipate easily. Only confined ignitions are really dangerous. Even Methane, which is relatively innocuous from an Explosive point of view, can be quite exciting when confined, as demonstrated by various House Explosions.
The biggest danger I would suggest is a build up of Vapour in a closed space like a Garage, followed by an ignition caused by Sparks from Electrical Gear or Cutting and Grinding. Fortunately the Ignition Energy of most normal Hydrocarbons is pretty high.
So, use it in small quantities and allow plenty of ventilation. People think that Ventilation in Pits is so that the Workers can breathe, but actually it's to dilute Hazardous Gases. Equally, Chemical Plants aren't enclosed 'cause you don't want to confine an ignition.

Alan

[camallison]

Sorry to have included you with the "nuts" Colin 2, you have taken sensible precautions. No offence intended.

Gary

No offence taken Gary - for all you know I may be a "nut"!

I worked in the petrochem and later oil & gas industry for many years, and such safety precautions were second nature. The steel coal bunker presented itself and, after a little modification suited the purpose well. With over 50 ltrs of stuff stored, I felt I was risking things with it all in the garage/workshop. I didn't want to risk my woodworking machinery collected over the decades.

Colin

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Big Al for this information. I'm aware of explosion risks regarding working underground.

I was always under the impression that the paint/thinners steel enclosures at work weren't explosion proof as such but that being fully enclosed this would in effect limit oxygen supply in an ignition rather like a blanket being placed over a fire?

When I use the compressor and spray gun to spray paint I always do this in the garage entrance with both doors wide open hence I've always complained that the weather prevents me paint spraying most of the year? The compressor is wheeled onto the driveway out of harms way and also to prevent clogging the filters; I wear a respirator for safety and don't spray two pack paints at home.

One thing I really do dislike doing is changing small gas canisters on my blowlamp; even if done outside the smell lingers for ages and worries me. Many years ago I owned "Portapak" cutting/welding gear but decided this was too dangerous to have hanging around in the garage; the prices have increased since those days?

http://boconlineshop.com/shop/en/uk/boc-portapak#

BOC bottles are rental only and not cheap.

Any smell of gas or thinners etc requires immediate investigation ensuring lots of ventilation; even wearing woolen clothes can be highly dangerous due to static discharge. Gas and fumes are just so dangerous and it would be extremely foolhardy of anyone to take chances.

Kind regards, Col.

[pwdrive]

It's the almost instantaneous pressure from the expanding gases from a confined explosion that's the problem, something usually has to give.
It's not rocket science as to how much and how it should be stored in a domestic situation.

Lawrence.

[Radio Fixer]

Well our claim for the new carpet was a substantial amount being a large lounge and attached diner so it sweetened the pill of all the money paid on premiums over the years.

What was interesting was the assessor looked at the original and said it had a high wool content and so the wine would have entered hollow fibres and couldn't be cleaned. We were happy with this as it wasn't a good choice of colour being off white ! and we were happy to have it go. Then he said I can show you replacements that you can have of the same or better quality; I have the sample books in the car. We did wonder if there was a personal interest ?

So that was it, within no time we had chosen and it all went through including payment for the fitters to move heavy furniture.

Gary

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Lawrence and Gary; I'm trying to catch up at the moment and have just taken a couple of pictures to try my new Nikon camera out; I've used Gimp to re-size the pictures so hopefully I'm back up to speed once again?

The pictures show quite a few sections of the lathe now ready for new paint but they don't show the effort and hard work involved so far.

Kind regards, Col.

       

[AlanBeckett]

Come on young Col, where's your daily update?
It's been another splendid day down here so if it's been anything like up there you should have got all sorts done.

Alan

[camallison]

He's probably still out in the garage, making the most of it. Further Up North (here in Yarm), it has been a beautiful day and the clear sky now suggests a chilly night to come.

Colin

[Joe]

Warm and sunny in Sheffield too. I've had the heating off all day.

- Joe